Knowledge and Use of the Flora in a Quilombola Community of Northeastern Brazil

Janaina Araújo Dos Santos,Andréa Pereira Silveira,Vaneicia Dos Santos Gomes

doi:10.1590/2179-8087.093217

Abstract

An ethnobotanical survey was carried out in the Quilombola Community of Serra do Evaristo in the municipality of Baturité, Ceará state, Brazil. We interviewed 41 residents who provided information on the plants used, the types of use, the preparation methods, the purchase location of the plants and their knowledge source. One hundred and fourteen species belonging to 53 botanical families were recorded. Six types of use were reported, with most species being used for medicinal purposes (43% of the species), followed by food (25%), decoration (23%), construction (5%), domestic fuel (3%) and ritualistic purposes (3%). The most cited species were Musa paradisiaca L. (banana), Zea mays L. (corn), Phaseolus vulgaris L. (bean), Citrus sinensis (L.) Osbeck (orange), Melissa officinalis L. (common balm), Aloe vera (L.) Burm.f. (aloe vera), Cymbopogon citratus Stapf. (lemon grass), Mentha sp.(mint) and Psidium guajava L. (guava). The knowledge and use of the plants is part of a cultural heritage passed down through families, and has been helping the survival and maintenance of the Quilombola identity in the studied community.

Highlights

Ethnobotany includes the study of human societies, their ecological, symbolic and cultural interactions with plants, as well as how these societies interpret and manage their knowledge (Boscolo et al, 2015)
Brazilian legislation has recognized traditional peoples since the Constitution of 1988; it was not until the Federal Decree No 6,040 of 2007 (Brasil, 2007) that the legislation gave them more attention by establishing the National Policy for the Sustainable Development of Traditional Peoples and Communities (Política Nacional de Desenvolvimento Sustentável dos Povos e Comunidades Tradicionais)
Brazil has a wide range of traditional communities, but those best known include: the Indigenous, Quilombola, Ribeirinho, Seringueiro, Castanheiro and Gypsy communities; among those of lesser expression are the Quebradeiras de Coco, the Fundo de Pasto and the Faxinalenses populations (Grzebieluka, 2012)

Summary

Introduction

Ethnobotany includes the study of human societies, their ecological, symbolic and cultural interactions with plants, as well as how these societies interpret and manage their knowledge (Boscolo et al, 2015). Brazil has a wide range of traditional communities, but those best known include: the Indigenous, Quilombola, Ribeirinho, Seringueiro, Castanheiro and Gypsy communities; among those of lesser expression are the Quebradeiras de Coco, the Fundo de Pasto and the Faxinalenses populations (Grzebieluka, 2012). These diverse traditional communities have cultures rich in customs and beliefs, which have been historically constituted and maintained through struggles and resistance. The concept has been broadened and Quilombos are defined as “every black rural community that groups slave descendants living from a subsistence culture where cultural manifestations have a strong link with the past” (Diegues & Viana, 2004, p. 266)

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Results